Hi Ren: Enjoy listening to you as often as possible...have heard you mention on occasion what to do or steps to follow re insulating a cold room...1st the details: cold room located under front porch...all cement...floor, walls and ceiling...approx 25 feet long...eight feet wide....and approx 8.5 feet high...door about 4 ft from end on interior wall allowing entrance from rec room. 3 Holes about 3 inch in diameter for ventilation...6 inches from ceiling...one outside wall close to end...one middle of outside wall and one on far end wall 3 inches from front wall... exterior cold room wall approx 1 and 3/4 feet out of ground...one step up to porch...obvious issue moisture build-up and frost in winter...this summer have left door open and have fan going...so not an issue...but with frost etc in winter...mould etc...I believe that you have mentioned rigid foam insulation on roof and to 4 feet below ground on exterior walls...is there a need for further ventilation ? or would a hole in bottom of entrance door and top be sufficient...any tips much appreciated. Thanks Ren woops just discovered mistake....e-mail address is actually theclarkes@golden.net
Answer:
Insulation in here should be rigid foam at least two inches thick on the ceiling and on all walls. The exterior walls would only need it to a depth equal to a foot lower than exterior grade level but the door and interior wall should have it all the way down to the floor. Do a tight-fitting job on the ceiling first and then the walls. Cold room should be fitted with four-inch ducts leading from the existing hole(s) in the upper walls to within six inches of the floor. These ducts should be fitted with appropriate dampers to control temperature in there.
